Declared by Sir András Schiff to be ‘one of the best cellists of his generation’, Ivan Karizna combines a striking stage presence with poetic musicality. In his first appearance at UKARIA, Ivan partners with Australian virtuoso pianist Aura Go for a recital that showcases the breadth and nuance of the cello and piano duo repertoire.

From Claude Debussy’s darkly humorous Sonata, initially subtitled ‘Pierrot is angry at the moon’, the program turns to the world of fairytales, as in Leoš Janáček’s Podháka, a characterful, episodic work based on the epic Russian poem The Tale of Tsar Berendyey. The first half ends with Benjamin Britten’s first work for cello, dedicated to the mighty Rostropovich and a friendship that would go on to become a long and fruitful musical partnership.

The recital’s second half draws a more intimate portrait of the cello and piano duo: here, settings of Schubert Lieder offer a cantabile counterpoint to Nadia Boulanger’s quicksilver Trois pièces. The pen and ink mood of this encounter is dispelled in a blaze of primary colour, with another pivotal work written for the great Rostropovich: Sergei Prokofiev’s singing, exuberant Cello Sonata in C.